Lose the Local Newspaper, Get Re-elected?

Over the weekend, Time magazine highlighted a new study from Princeton that may predict what could happen to a city if one of its daily ...

Over the weekend, Time magazine highlighted a new study from Princeton that may predict what could happen to a city if one of its daily local newspapers shuts down.

Two researchers found that after the Cincinnati Post closed at the end of 2007, municipal elections in northern Kentucky became less competitive -- fewer people went to the polls, fewer people ran for office and incumbents were more likely to be re-elected.

The study's findings may predict the competitiveness of future municipal elections in areas that have already lost a daily newspaper -- as seen in Denver with the Rocky Mountain News and Seattle with the Post-Intelligencer -- or in areas that may lose a paper in the future.